The Running Stormtrooper

The force is strong with this one.
Twenty-six miles in Stormtrooper armour, followed by a 40-mile run finishing at Pinewood Studios- all for a good cause. The force is strong with this one.

Much of the Royal Air Force community’s appeal lies in its unfailing ability to do good things and, from the charity work of the thrift shops, to walking a marathon a day for five days, RAF High Wycombe is no different. Squadron Leader Jez Allinson started running in his Stormtrooper armour back in 2016 with a view to raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity founded on granting magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions.
“I’d completed a couple of charity runs in 2015 including the London Marathon, which I absolutely loved. So I thought I’d do it again, but I knew I’d need to up the ante in order to get people to sponsor me again. I needed to make it a challenge, and what could be more challenging than running it in Stormtrooper armour?”
So in 2016, the ‘Running Stormtrooper’ took to the streets of London and managed to raise over £5,300 for Make-A-Wish, however, it wasn’t long before he felt the urge to try to raise more in 2017.
Setting himself a 2017 target of £10,000 he created a 3-phase project: Phase 1 saw him running four back to back half marathons on a treadmill at a four-day Star Wars convention in Orlando in front of 70,000 people. Phase 2 was just seven days later where he once again completed the London Marathon, but also managed to secure a Guinness World record for fastest marathon dressed as a Star Wars character. The time to beat was 4 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds. Jez managed to beat it with 47 seconds to spare! The final most challenging phase was created to raise as much money as possible and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. On 4th May, Jez ran 40 miles in the armour: 39 miles were around Black Park, Wexham, and the final mile around Pinewood Studios, where the Star Wars films are being made. For the last 100 metres, he was joined by his family and 6-year-old Make-A-Wish recipient, Oliver Ball.

Destroying the myth that a Stormtrooper can never hit a target, Sqn Ldr Allinson is delighted that he’s not only beaten his target of £10,000, he is now close to £13,000. For more information go to www.justgiving.com/rogueone .